How to cook the perfect steak

Tip #1 – Buy QUALITY meat! (Butchers FTW)

So many people buy cheap cuts of meat and then wonder why their steaks have the taste and texture of a used doormat.

Get down to your local butchers, buy a prime cut of meat and be prepared for an infinitely better meal than a supermarket cheap meat let down. One of the best parts of going to the butchers is chatting with the staff, who almost always have a recommendation for you.

(Shout out to my local butchers H.Sharp, who have never let me down yet!)

I would recommend getting a thicker cut and looking for marbling in the meat (thin white streaks of fat that run throughout) as this adds more flavour to the meat when cooking. The thicker cut means can actually achieve that delicious pink centre that’s easy to miss with thin cuts.

Tip #2 – Salt and pepper…keep it simple!

Before cooking; pat your steak down with a paper towel to take any excess moisture of the surface of your steak. This will help sear the surface of the meat, leaving you with a much richer flavour.

Once patted down, add a generous amount of ground rock salt and black pepper to the meat and leave for about 15 minutes.

Tip #3 – Oil the steak, not the pan

This one’s pretty black and white. Oil your steak and not the pan. This way you’re less likely to burn the oil and you get an even coating. The result is even caramelisation of the meat when searing it.

Don’t go glugging the oil on, though; as you only need a thin film of oil around the whole steak.

Tip #4 – Sear the meat

Cast iron skillets are ideal for cooking steaks. They retain heat really well, meaning you don’t lose all the heat when your drop a load of meat in there. But if you don’t have a skillet a normal pan will suffice.

The key is making sure the pan you’re using is really hot before adding the meat, preferably around 200°C. As soon as the meat hits that pan you should hear fierce sizzling. Depending on the thickness of steak (I’m working on a good thick cut) you want to cook each side on this high temperature for about 5-6 minutes.

The surface of the meat will start to caramelise (Turn a dark brown) which seals in all those amazing flavours.

Once seared drop the temperature and cook depending on how you like it done. Using a meat thermometer (Which are about £2 from a supermarket) you can judge how well done your steak is:

(Here’s a handy guide from http://www.donaldrussell.com/blog/article-by-category/cooking-tips-and-recipes/how-to-cook-the-perfect-steak)

Tip #5 – Rest your steak for 5 minutes before eating

As tempting as it is to serve the steak straight from pan to plate, resist the urge and reap the benefits. Wrap your steak in tin foil and set to one side for about 5 minutes. This allows the meat to relax and makes it all the juicier and tastier.

Basically, when you first put your steak in that hot pan, all the juices rush to the centre of the meat. If you cut the steak immediately after cooking, all of the concentrated juices run straight out. By leaving the meat for a short period of time, you allow the juices to disperse through the meat and end up with a much richer flavour throughout.